Ma Chao didn¡¯t think about it for long before handing the question over to Zhang Ren who came after hearing the news: ¡°What does General Zhang think?¡±
Zhang Ren glanced at the order from Liu Jia, and reluctantly looked at the shadow at the end of the field of vision in front of him and said: "It seems that we still have to obey the order of King Shu. But"
"What?" Ma Chao asked casually.
"If the situation is really as serious as stated in the order, then whether we can successfully retreat back to Mi City is still a question." Zhang Rendao.
"No way? Aren't we always chasing after Cao Jun? Where are their soldiers playing tricks behind us?" Ma and Chao asked strangely.
"General Ma didn't see Wang Shuang?" Zhang Ren asked.
"Why didn't you see Wang Shuang? But how could his 20,000 soldiers cut off our retreat? The city was occupied by us. One of our cavalry in the field was equivalent to three or four of their infantry. We also had 20,000 troops. He If Wang Shuang continues to be his coward, we can let him live for a few more days. If he wants to come forward, we can destroy him without any effort. General Zhang won't be afraid of his mere 20,000 troops, right?" Ma Chao Said with pride.
Zhang Ren shook his head and said: "If there are no special circumstances, we can almost ignore Wang Shuang. But now Zhang found that something is wrong. Cao Hong and Cao Ren can be said to be Cao Cao's trusted generals, and they are also leading Cao's army. How could the most elite troops in the army be so vulnerable? Before seeing this order, Zhang also thought it was because Cao Cao's rear was in chaos. Therefore, the army had no fighting spirit. And our 20,000 cavalry were unstoppable. But now Zhang found that the situation would not be that simple. Those Cao troops who were scattered by us may have organized behind us. They are ready to give us a counterattack."
"How can they fight back? We retreat and General Wei Yan rushes forward. We are not afraid of two flanking attacks even if Cao Jun really leaves 40,000 to 50,000 troops. As long as we persist for a while, the large army of the King of Shu will arrive. That is not what we say. Meat in it?" Ma Chao disagreed.
"Zhang doesn't know either." Zhang Ren said hesitantly.
The two did not discuss anything further. Ma Chao decisively ordered the troops to stop the pursuit and camp on the spot to prepare to rest for half a day and one night before starting to retreat back to Wei Mi City tomorrow. At the same time, he ordered General Pang De, who was almost abreast of his troops, to also stop chasing Cao Hong. The two armies gradually Come closer. At the same time, additional detective horses were sent to expand the scope of exploration.
The next day, when Ma Chao's large army retreated, Cao Hong and Cao Ren turned around and fought back. In an attempt to delay the retreat of Ma Chao's army. However, Pang De's cavalry cut off the rear, making it impossible for Cao's army to take any advantage: Pang De took the initiative to charge before Cao's army even approached Ma Chao's rear. Under the fierce impact of the cavalry, Cao's army had almost no power to fight back, and the battle did not last long. It began to show signs of failure. Once Cao's army gathered and prepared to fight, Pang De ordered the cavalry to retreat. Seeing the cavalry coming and going like a whirlwind without a trace, Cao Jun could only sigh and hiss. Watching Ma Chao's army retreat calmly.
But the tactical victory of Ma Chao Cavalry does not mean that this unit is going smoothly. On the contrary, when this army retreated as ordered, Wang Shuang's troops had already reached the gates of Yumi City. Before Wang Shuang arrived at Hemi City, the city had already fallen into the hands of Cao's army. Now Wang Shuang's 20,000 troops were just here to help defend the city.
Weren¡¯t there more than a thousand troops stationed in Yumi City at that time? Why did Wang Shuang capture this city so effortlessly?
It was not Wang Shuang's troops who captured the city, but Cao Ren's "stragglers". After Ma Chao's army came to the front, these people slowly gathered according to the previous plan. Some of them went to harass Wei Yan's troops, and some were on standby in an inconspicuous place surrounding Wei Mi City. When Wang Shuang's troops were not far from the city, the defenders of the city began to close the city gates. Strictly prevent people from entering and exiting. But what the defenders didn't expect was that when Cao Jun abandoned the city, they had already dug a passage leading to the outside of the city, and only temporarily sealed the two ends. When almost all of the thousand defenders went up to the city wall to defend against Wang Shuang's vanguard and the "stragglers" who deliberately clamored outside the city, some Cao soldiers began to confidently and boldly excavate the sealed areas at both ends of the tunnel.
On the night when Ma Chao¡¯s army was encamped to rest and prepare to retreat the next day, more than 2,000 Cao Cao¡¯s troops entered the houses of the city through this tunnel without anyone noticing. Even after all the more than 2,000 people entered, the more than 1,000 defenders were not discovered yet. They were still scolding and shooting at Cao Jun outside the city wall.
With a shout, the two thousand Cao troops who came in joined forces and quickly occupied the east and south city gates. After working together inside and outside, the ownership of the city changed hands within two hours.
These more than a thousand defenders are cavalry. They are used to fighting on the spot.When used as a wall defender, its combat effectiveness is only that of a soldier. but. Because Cao's army launched an unexpected battle, the defenders' fighting will was greatly reduced due to panic. Therefore, when they understood the situation outside the city, they resisted for a while and then began to flee. Precisely because of the horses, the purpose of Cao's army was just to capture the city quickly. In addition to more than 400 people who died in battle among the more than 1,000 defenders. The rest all escaped, either fleeing from Ma Chao or defecting to Wei Yan.
When Wei Yan and Ma Chao received news of the fall of Mi City. The situation is basically clear: Wang Shuang's army has all entered Kuimi City and is reinforcing the city. Of course, it is also quickly blocking the underground passage; Cao Cao's army, which had secretly moved westward from Chang'an City, is openly moving from Chang'an City at full speed. The northern and southern fronts rushed towards the city; all the stragglers began to gather towards the city
Cao Cao's intention is completely obvious, which is to use Wei Mi City as a fulcrum to expand to the north and south to establish an impregnable defense line, lock Ma Chao's army in the east, lock Liu Jia's army in the west, and go all out to eat Ma Chao of twenty thousand cavalry.
Ma Chao immediately urged the army to retreat faster. Wei Yan sent people to report the current situation to Liu Jia, while also speeding up the advance to get out the 20,000 cavalry before Cao Cao closed the encirclement: Although the number of 20,000 cavalry is not large, the cavalry is But it is extremely valuable. It took so many years of expeditions to organize such an army, and naturally it does not want to fall into the hands of Cao Cao.
The weather in the northwest is very cold, especially on this early winter night, and the armor covered with a thin layer of ice makes extra noise when walking around. The white steam exhaled by the rushing soldiers floated far away. Although the torches in their hands were burning, it was difficult for the soldiers nearby to feel any heat.
Wei Yan stared at the dark front, his body rising and falling with the movement of the horse's back. He did not urge the horse to go faster, but let the horse follow the team at will. The horse was acting casually, but Wei Yan had been thinking.
At this time, a burst of rapid hoofbeats sounded from the front of the team, running towards here. Wei Yan was stunned, and his left hand naturally strangled the mount beneath him.